Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Buchholz might not pitch until after All-Star break

Clay Buchholz conceded before Wednesday night’s game against the Phillies that his next start might not be until after the All-Star break.

Thanks to a lower back strain, Buchholz hasn’t pitched since June 16. He had held out hope a few days ago that he could return on July 4 at Fenway against the Blue Jays, but the righty no longer seems confident he can make it back that soon.

“[I’m] probably set back a little bit,” Buchholz said. “I’d rather come back after the All-Star break and be healthy, if that’s the case, unless something happens that what we’re doing is going to make it feel better in the next three or four days and then I could look at pitching when we get back home. I want to make sure I’m ready for August and September. If something happens and I go out and pitch and feel 80 percent, then this happens again and I have to go back on the DL, that’s not what I or, I don’t think the team wants. That’s where we’re at right now.”

A couple of days ago, Buchholz went out and threw with hope that the back issue would be cleared out. But he could tell it wasn’t.

“Just going out and throwing, I wanted it 100 percent gone before I pitch again and it was still there,” said Buchholz. “I definitely didn’t think it was going to be there like it was. Yeah, I expected to go out and throw … I didn’t expect it to be completely gone but it just didn’t get better as quick as I thought it was going to so that’s where we’re at right now.”
Buchholz and the Red Sox both think it is pointless and unproductive for him to try to grind through the injury at this point. As it is, it has lingered since late last season.

“Hopefully I can get this out of the way and come back at 100 percent and not have to worry about it for the rest of the season and hopefully it’s gone forever and I’ll never have to worry about it. That’s the outlook I have on it right now,” Buchholz said. “I’m sort of disappointed the last couple of days after I threw a couple of days ago. There’s nothing I can do about it except keep treating it and hopefully it gets better.”

In the meantime, Buchholz is happy that the Red Sox have pitchers like Tim Wakefield, Andrew Miller and Alfredo Aceves at their disposal.
“We have depth, so that’s a good thing. Someone else can take the ball and I can feel like there’s not any fall-off,” Buchholz said.

10 Comments

Mike Cameron was DFAed. Overdue, I think. Good guy– I liked him– but not getting it done on the field or with the bat. I am not sold on Yamaico Navarro taking his spot on the roster, though– he was far from convincing last time he was called up. Here goes nada! GO SOX!

I am starting to believe in Miller. Until Buchholz comes back, Miller is my no. 3 starter. My preferred rotation would be Beckett, Lester (not necessarily in that order), Buchholtz, Miller, Lackey. We can reasonably expect a quality start from Miller each outing but not from Lackey and Wakefield. Go Sox!

Well, looks like we’ll have to manage without both Lester and Buch until after the AS Break. Hopefully, it won’t be longer than that, but we’ll see. Glad the Sox won after Lester had to leave the game. GO SOX!

It’s time for Lackey to stand up and show he is worth the money he is getting paid for during the absence of Bucky and Lester. Let’s hope the Sox can pick up some ground on either the Yanks or the Rays. But the Orioles are no longer a pushover like they used to be. Go Sox.

The Sox scored 8 runs in the first inning. The Oreos have gleefully returned to being the Sox’s whipping boy. The Sox have to score 10 runs in 5 innings for Lackey to win. The fact Aceves pitched yesterday, we know the Sox will bring up a young arm from Pawtucket. Look forward to Sunday’s game.

Did Papi miss the left hook at Gregg? Let’s see what Lackey can do to an AAA+ lineup tonight?
Other than the obvious addition of AGonz, the Sox potent offense is largely attributable to Papi’s bat especially against LHP and in addition to the contribution of Ellsbury and Pedroia. If the rotation stays healthy and the RF improves, the Sox close to being a perfect team. Set the personal feeling aside, go Lackey!

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